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SeaWorld’s ‘Blackfish’ Killer Whale Tilikum Dies

Updated 04.11.17 4:13PM ET / Published 01.06.17 10:58AM ET

Mike Blake/Reuters

Tilikum, the famed orca who killed SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010, has died, the marine theme park company said Friday. The whale became the subject of the CNN documentary Blackfish, leading many to protest keeping killer whales in captivity. Tilikum was 36 years old and had a persistent bacterial infection, but his exact cause of death is not yet known. During his lifespan, he sired 14 calves in 23 years in the Orlando park. He was involved in the deaths of two other people in the 1990s.